William Hallet Bistro Temporarily Closed By Health Department

May 7, 2018 By Tara Law

William Hallet, an Astoria bistro and bar which serves American-style food, has been closed temporarily by the Department of Health.

The Health Inspector discovered numerous violations at the 36-10 30th Ave. restaurant during an inspection on May 3. The restaurant received 49 violation points for infractions such as an improperly washed food surface and evidence of mice or live mice.

William Hallet also received a “Notice of Violation” after receiving a high score during its previous inspection on Feb. 24. The inspector gave the restaurant 43 violation points for various infractions, including an improper food contact surface.

The inspector found the following sanitary violations at the restaurant during the inspection on May 3. The first three were listed as critical.

1) Raw, cooked or prepared food is adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded in accordance with HACCP plan.

Honestly, I’ve gotten sick lately from a few places on 30th and have stopped ordering from the ave all together. I wonder if the vermin issue is related to the construction work going on the past few months on the sewer system in Astoria. The whole sidewalk outside of hallet is under construction and I’ve gotten sick from other restaurants on that exact block. The businesses on 30th Ave have really gotten hit hard this year with the subway closing and this huge construction project.

To all the I’m in the industry people that ignore the fact the failed miserably…While they are strict it is for a reason, I ran many kitchens in NYC over the past 10 years and always got my A. Not to mention you get a SECOND chance before that grade is posted. You fail because you are a dirty mf that shouldn’t be running a buisness…

You are 100% correct. The business is only shut down if the violations are extremely bad. Having mice/rats/roaches present means the business does not use a n exterminator service regularly. Completely unacceptable, and if you sticking up for them you’re foolish.

Filthy. People can get sick while others defend these violators! They say give them another chance. Why? So you can go to the emergency room? This isn’t a conspiracy. Vermin around food is unhealthy. Do you have rodents in your own kitchen??? Disgusting.

Hi there! Former kitchen worker here who has personally dealt with health inspectors and mice! Health inspections can be extremely subjective depending on who is doing the actual inspection. If you recall a few years back, Prosperity Dumpling was ultimately shut down after photos surfaced of staff folding dumplings in an alley with rats, not mice!, running around in full view of the camera. Up until this time they had an A. Around this time, the three Michelin star Per Se received a C for mouse droppings and some other violations. In an extremely densely populated city it is nearly impossible to be fully rid of pests in an establishment that serves food, much like it is nearly impossible to keep them out of your apartments. This isn’t some general cleaning or equipment issue (I once worked in a kitchen years ago in a different city that kept the walk-in cooler at a balmy 48 degrees that somehow passed inspection and I was horrified). My impression is that the inspector came on a bad day right before the weekend making it impossible to contest a simple fix of using a different exterminator. Don’t write them off.

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